Happily Ever After
Recap The day after Stella ran out on their wedding, Ted is unusually happy. The rest of his friends (other than Barney, who is happy Ted isn't married) are worried about him, thinking that he is repressing his emotions. Over the course of two weeks, the group tries to be there for Ted, but he insists he is fine. Eventually, the group becomes frustrated, and pushes him to unleash his emotions. Though he refuses, he does reveal that he has a map of New York to help him avoid running into Stella. Using the map, they decide to go to dinner at a restaurant recommended by one of Lily's friends. Unfortunately, it soon turns out that friend was actually Stella , who appears at the restaurant while the group is waiting to eat. Panicking, Ted ducks under the table, with the rest of the group reluctantly following his example. Stella places an order to go, so they decide to wait for her to leave. Lily tells Ted he is being stupid, and says he should face Stella. Ted replies that Lily would do the same thing in his position, if 'Gasser' walked in. Lily reveals that, in ninth grade, she was sat next to a boy named Michael Sasser, who was on the edge of becoming a cool kid. In one lesson, Lily accidentally lets out a loud fart, and rather than be embarrassed, blamed Sasser, giving him the nickname 'Gasser', and he was teased so badly he had to move schools. Back under the table, Lily says that if Michael were to walk in, she would go over and apologize, and face her fear, inviting Ted to do the same. Barney agrees, saying that there are plenty of women he slept with he doesn't want to see again, some of them for the very first time, but he still would not hide from them. Ted mentions Becca DiLucci, which seems to upset Barney. Becca is revealed to be a girl in prison Barney used to have sex with, during Conjugal visits. On one visit, Barney tried to chat up another inmate, "Barney Stinson, attorney at law. Let's talk about getting you off!", causing a fight to break out between Becca and the other inmate. Since then, Barney has received threats from Becca on multiple occasions. Ted decides that everyone wants to hide from someone, and that they should stay under the table until the problem goes away. Robin agrees with Ted, saying she would hide from her father if he were to walk in as well. Flashbacks show Robin's father to be disappointed to have a daughter instead of a son, though this doesn't change his plans, giving her the middle name Charles and taking her deer hunting at a young age. Things got worse, when Robin's father found her kissing one of her hockey team-mates when she was fourteen, and she decided to move in with her mom, after which she became Robin Sparkles. After hearing about how Robin's experience with her father messed her up, Ted realizes all his friends are haunted by problems in their past, but it wasn't too late for him to face up to his. He decides to talk to Stella, but finds she has already left. They hail a cab and follow her, but Ted still refuses to get mad, and instead wants to talk things out, despite protests from his friends. When they realize Stella isn't going back to New Jersey, but to Tony's apartment, he is enraged that she wouldn't move into the city for him, but would for Tony. Finally, Ted unleashes his emotions, to the joy of his friends. Ted imagines himself confronting Stella, and tells her she made the wrong choice, and should have been with him, as Tony will only let her down again. When he actually goes to talk to her, he sees her and Tony with their daughter, and decides that they were meant to be a family, his anger quickly subsiding. Future Ted announces that rather than swallowing your anger, or throwing it in someone's face, the best idea is to simply let it go, so you can move on. Finally, Ted gets rid of his map, so he can get on with his life. Continuity *Robin first alludes to her issues with her father, mentioning that she started smoking cigars to get his attention, in . *Robin reveals the origin of her career as Robin Sparkles, which the gang found out about in . *In , Future Ted proposes a ninth step to the Platinum Rule called "Co-existence", where the exes simply let go of their anger and resentment, much like Ted does with Stella here. *Marshall reveals that Stella hates Star Wars, a secret he learned in . *Ted is angry that Stella moves into the city for Tony when she refuses to do so for him in , expecting him to move to New Jersey. Future References (Contains Spoilers) *In , one of the plays in Barney's Playbook is the "Ted Mosby", where he tells girls he has been left at the altar, apparently while wearing the same clothes that Ted does here. *Barney tells of another time he pretends to be an "Attorney at Law" in . * also depicts Robin's father forcing her to learn how to hunt. *Ted and Robin argue about Ted's tendency to avoid confrontation in . *Barney is seen using "get you off" as a double entendre again in . *Robin's mansion hints at her family's wealth, which her friends learn about in . *In Rally, we learn that the morning prior to the events of this episode, Ted had gotten a massive hangover in response to being left at the altar. Gallery : Happily Ever After 03.jpg Happily Ever After 02.jpg Happily Ever After 01.jpg 74081 1223697351029 449 300.jpg Happily ever after.png Becca Barney.jpg|Barney and Becca Memorable Quotes Notes and Trivia Goofs and Errors *Robin said she never played team sports in , which is contrary to the flashback to her hockey team visiting her house after a game. *Robin says she hasn't spoken to her father in three years, however in only 1 season before she mentions that Barney watched her dogs while she visited her father. *When referring to his break-up with Lily, the flashback shows Marshall with his current haircut rather than his shorter hair in Season 2. *Robin compares how far you get on a date to hockey, saying "'the blue line' is kissing, 'the red line' is getting naked, and I think 'in the crease' speaks for itself." In hockey, there is a blue line on both sides of the red line, making the analogy either incorrect or oddly vague. Allusions and Outside References *After revealing that Stella hated Star Wars, Marshall adds, "She lied to you. Search your feelings, Ted. You know it to be true." It is a parody of a line from Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back. *In Robin's flashback when her father (Eric Braeden) catches her making out with her hockey teammate, the cheesy organ followed by the dramatic overacting and piano background music is deliberate soap opera satire, playing on Braeden having played Victor Newman on The Young and the Restless for years. Music *When they first arrive at the the restaurant where they accidentally meet Stella, a guitar can be heard in the background playing the phrase from 's Gran Vals that comprises the . *All the World (I Tell Myself) - Correatown *Better - Other Notes *The German episode title is "Unter dem Tisch", meaning "Under the Table". The French episode title is "Ils vécurent très heureux ... sans enfants", meaning "They Lived Very Happily... Without Children". *International Airdates: Germany: December 12, 2009 on ProSieben; United Kingdom: January 21, 2010 on E4. Guests *Sarah Chalke - Stella Zinman * - Tony Grafanello * - Robin Scherbatsky Sr. *Darcy Rose Byrnes - Lucy Zinman *Max Prado - Michael Sasser *Shelby Zemanek - Robin 8 years old *Michael Bolten - Kyle *Meegan Godfrey - Becca DiLucci *Chris Dotson - Waiter#1 *Andre Navarro - Waiter#2 Reception * Donna Bowman of gave the episode an A rating. http://www.avclub.com/articles/happily-ever-after,13322/ * Michelle Zoromski of gave the episode 8.5 out of 10. http://tv.ign.com/articles/926/926715p1.html * gave the episode a B. http://www.televisionwithoutpity.com/show/how_i_met_your_mother/happily_ever_after_1_1.php * The St. Petersburg Comic Review gave this episode 9 out of 10 stars. "...hiding under a table..'Let's talk about getting you off.'..." References External links * * * es:Felices para siempre Category:Episodes Category:Season 4